Cabinet Mission 

Cabinet Mission 

• • In Britain, the Labour Party had won a landslide victory and Clement Atlee became the Prime Minister.
  • He sent a Cabinet Mission comprising Pethick Lawrence, Sir Strafford Cripps and A.V. Alexander in March 1946.

Proposals of mission

• Rejected the demand for Pakistan.
• It provided for a Federal government with control over defence, communications and foreign affairs.

The provinces were divided into three groups viz. 

1. Non-Muslim Majority Provinces.
2. Muslim Majority Provinces in the Northwest.
3. The Muslim Majority Provinces in the Northeast.

• A Constituent Assembly was to be elected 
• An interim government set up with representation for all the communities.
• The Congress wanted the division of the provinces to be temporary while the Muslim League wanted it to be a permanent arrangement.
• Jinnah sounded out his acceptance of the idea on June 6, 1946.
• Nehru conveyed through his speech at the AICC, on July 7, 1946, that the Indian National Congress accepted the proposal.
• After elaborate consultations, the viceroy issued invitations on 15 June 1946 to the 14 men to join the interim government.
• Meanwhile, the Congress proposed Zakir Hussain from its quota of five nominees to the interim council.
• The Muslim League objected to this and, on 29 July 1946, Jinnah announced that the League would not participate in the process to form the Constituent Assembly.
• In July-August 1946 election Congress secured 210 seats and Muslim League reserved 76 seats from Muslim reserved constituency.
• Five Hindus, three Muslims and one representative each from the scheduled castes, Indian Christians, Sikhs and Parsis formed the basis of this list. Later Hare Krishna Mahtab was replaced by Sarat Chandra Bose.
• The Parsi nominee, N.P. Engineer was replaced by Cooverji Hormusji Bhabha. In place of the League’s nominees, the Congress put in the names of three of its own men: Asaf Ali, Shafaat Ahmed Khan and Syed Ali Zaheer.
• The League, meanwhile, gave a call for ‘Direct Action’ on 16 August 1946.
• The Congress agreed to the constitution of the interim government and Nehru assumed office on 2 September 1946.
• The interim cabinet was reconstituted on October 26, 1946. 
• After some hesitation Muslim League joined it in October 1946 and Liaqat Alikhan of League became the finance minister.
• British Prime Minister Atlee’s statement in Parliament on February 20, 1947, that the British were firm on their intention to leave India by June 1948 set the pace for another stage.
• Lord Mountbatten was replaced as Viceroy by Lord Mountbatten on March 22, 1947.